JNCC's Triennial Review

The
Triennial Review of JNCC concluded that the organisation is
very much valued for its record of delivering Government
environmental priorities, respected by partners and customers alike
and provides good value to
Defra and the devolved administrations.

The review was undertaken jointly by Defra and
the devolved administrations, and views were sought from a wide
range of stakeholders. The review considered whether any
reforms would achieve better delivery of high-quality
nature-conservation evidence and advice to Government and JNCC
customers, and also JNCC’s compliance with principles of good
corporate governance.

The review found the functions the organisation carries out on
behalf of Government are necessary, and JNCC is broadly the right
body for delivering these functions. A number of changes which
would further increase the effectiveness of the organisation were
identified and these are summarised in the review's
conclusions.

Good progress is being made to implement the conclusions of the
review:

we are enhancing our engagement with civil society by
reinvigorating and extending the fora through which we engage with
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on UK nature conservation
issues including those in the Overseas Territories and Crown
Dependencies;

we are reviewing JNCC's internal arrangements to provide
assurance that we are able to promote high-quality science, based
on agreed priorities and provide a clear voice for the UK nature
conservation bodies nationally and abroad. We are introducing a new
evidence quality policy and Joint Committee is increasing its role in
developing science thinking on key nature conservation
issues;

we are strengthening our accountability to sponsors. We
have worked with sponsors to propose more transparent funding
arrangements and to strengthen the representation of their views at
Joint Committee and through other fora. The Joint Committee have
also simplified their governance arrangements to increase
transparency;